ALBUM OF WEEK 36: COUP DE GRACE

When an opening song of a rock-metal-whatever the hell you want to label it-record starts with a guttural super rough yelling FUUUUUUUUCKKKK within its first 15 seconds, it’s the right sign to stop what you’re doing and focus on the album. It might be a piece of shit or terrific, but just for that you have to give it a chance.

I can’t remember when I purchased this album. Probably in the US or Japan, which means it was 3-6 years ago, however I started playing it more often a couple of them ago. I had always thought the 2 previous one Time Travelling Blues and The Big Black were my favorite, but at some point I changed my mind and Coup De Grace and A Eulogy for the Damned occupy the podium nowadays, probably because they are less metal, and the vibe is more hard rockin’.

I like Coup de Grace because the influence of punk is very present, leaving aside the cover of The Misfits’ song We Bite,, but also 70’s hard rock is there. Probably the result of the guitars is the most remarkable feature of the albums, with very powerful riffs and fast solos and also the bass lines and drums keep on the same solid level. I reckon it’s a very straightforward album which avoids too many ornaments in the songs, becoming one of the grooviest ones.

These album is full of many different references in the style, being Scott Reeder (Kyuss) the producer, featuring John Garcia (more Kyuss) in Made of Rats and the extraordinary Jesus Beater, under the adorable drunk Lee Dorrian‘s (Cathedral) record label Rise Above and Frank Kozik, the renowned artist and founder Man’s Ruin Records, responsible for the super cool artwork.

This is the typical underrated record which contains awesome songs such as the above mentioned Jesus Beater, which is quite accessible to not so into hard rock music, yet the riffs are absolutely brilliant, or my personal favorite, Rage of Angels, which totally reminds me of 70’s British hard rockers Nazareth and includes a super cool sampler from the movie “Convoy”. And then you find instrumental Graviton, a break which brings you back to the paths of a more lysergic trip. That’s the greatness of Coup De Grace. The mixing of styles makes this album very enjoyable and dynamic, so you don’t feel like there are songs which should have been left out.

In my coolrockmeter, the measure is quite simple. If I’m headbanging from the first song, that means the record is great, and this is what always happens to me every time I listen to this album. I never get tired of it and puts me in high spirits. Well yeah, sometimes I’d like to throw a TV set through the window, but believe me, such desire is another sign of the great quality of what I’m listening.

I leave you with a song while I’m finishing packing. Catching a train to my hometown in a couple of hours. This is my birthday celebration party weekend and I got the feeling is gonna be one of the wildest parties in the last years considering the lineup of friends who are gathering. If I survive I’ll tell you about it. In the meantime, enjoy the tune and have a fab weekend, friends!